ABSTRACT
Leon Trotsky was the key figure for the outcome of the struggle, both at the convention and after. Both Joseph Stalin and Zinoviev-Kamenev watched his every move and tried to determine its direction. Stalin’s direct appeal to proletarian instincts, begun in the 1923 fight against Trotsky, was continued and amplified into a new manipulatory device which developed to its full flower during the dekulakization period of 1928-1929. Trotsky maintained his position on the new Politburo, and he was later appointed chairman of the Scientific and Technical Collegium. This was a gesture, but not an empty one; it was intended to hamper the formation of a bloc between Trotsky and Zinoviev. Under Zinoviev’s cold demeanor, under the mask he had constructed through the years of personal attack, was hidden a very emotional personality. Zinoviev meanwhile had approached the leaders of the Democratic Centralism and other Workers’ Opposition groups, and he was endeavoring to overcome their distrust, particularly of Trotsky.
